Manufactured Housing News

I'm cursing our local weatherman who said it was a quiet tornado season -just after that all heck broke loose and we had the devastating storms in Texas and Oklahoma. My sister and my favorite Jr Lifestylists live in Edmond - just North of Oklahoma City so after the Moore tornadoes I went to visit and see for myself what Mother Nature had sent to her city.
My parents had worked with the Salvation Army for many years doing disaster relief so I'd seen what a hurricane could do to a home and a town, but this was the first time I had seen tornado damage in person. As I was driving up I-35 into Moore things didn't look as bad as I expected until I came to the shopping center and hospital, and I think within about 5 feet you could see what was hit and what wasn't. The theater next to the hospital was fine, but the hospital and everything directly in front of and in back of it looked like it had been in a blender. Cars were crushed, windows blown out.. I can't imagine what the people who were in that hospital at the time went through.
Behind the hospital was a subdivision that was now just a pile of rubble. They always tell you to go to the room the furthest inside your home or the bathroom - one home only had the bathroom left standing, another had a solitary fireplace chimney standing alone.

I also went out to where the third storm hit that killed 22 people out near the Oklahoma City airport and fairgrounds. Everyone talks about how mobile homes, trailers, or factory built homes are the worst place to be, and since Yes! Communities has 13 land lease communities in the Oklahoma City area I wanted to see for myself how the homes in these communities stood up as opposed to commercial buildings and site built homes in the area. It was amazing. When I talked to some of the Yes team that had come in from 3 states to help out in their communities I learned that not 1 home in their community was destroyed, and there were no major injuries to any of their residents. What else really stood out to me is that every Yes! Community has a storm shelter for their residents. If you lived in a site built community you were own your own -either you had your own storm shelter constructed or you had to go find shelter elsewhere. I was also so impressed with how Yes! took care of their residents - they were truly working 24 hrs a day to find them food, water, and to help with cleanup. They didn't wait for state or federal assistance - they immediately got to work and took care of their residents.
Here's some facts and fiction about storm damage and factory built housing, we also have more images and information on our Lifestylist® website.
Fact: in an F5 tornado when winds can reach 200 mph or more most buildings will sustain considerable damage.
Fact: The best place to be when a tornado hits is in a storm shelter, preferably underground if possible.Fiction: Since a factory built home is delivered on wheels it remains mobile and can be easily moved. Fact: Even though a factory built home arrives on wheels, in most cases the home is attached to a slab or piers and "tied down" to the lots using a complex system that makes it immobile. Tires are removed, the home is connected to plumbing and electrical and in theory even though the home can be moved there is a considerable cost involved. Land lease communities are very strict about how a home is sited and tied down in their communities to maintain safety.
Fact: Today's factory built homes are built to government standards and specifications. "HUD Code" homes are factory built homes that are constructed to national HUD code standards and inspected by nationally certified HUD code inspectors. By doing this no matter where the home will be located, it will meet national standards for a well built home. Many times these standards exceed what is expected of a traditional, site built home. Any factory built home after 1976 is built to these specifications.
Fiction: Because a factory built home is brought in on wheels, it's easier for it to be blown off the slab or pad in a storm. Fact: a HUD constructed home is built on a steel frame and the home is then constructed around the frame. This frame becomes part of the home and stays with the home and is part of what is then attached to the site or slab. Unlike site built homes where the wooden frame of the home is connected to the slab or foundation then the home is built around it, the steel acts as a backbone that keeps the entire home together and allows for shifting. Plus remember that a factory built home is designed to travel down the road at at least 50 mph. I think many site built homes would have a lot of structural damage if they had to do the same.

If you think mobile homes sit on blocks and that a mobile home park is undesirable, you haven't seen this beautiful home. The exterior is deceiving - what looks ordinary from the street is extraordinary when you walk and side and see all of the spectacular views and renovations that have been made to the home.
For more thoughts on the value of factory built housing and why it's so important to choose the right person to market your home visit our Lifestylist site. For more photos and information on purchasing the home visit celebrity Realtor Madison Hildebrand's site - The Malibu Life. The photo above is compliments of Mr. Hildebrand.

It's heartbreaking to watch the news today and see the devastation in Moore, Oklahoma. My sister and her family live in Edmond, OK and I have clients that have land lease communities very close to where the tornado touched down.
People always think that "trailer parks" or "mobile home parks" are the worst places to be during a disaster like this, but that just isn't true. I was glad to hear that the Yes! Communities in this area only sustained hail and wind damage and no one was hurt. Their on-site managers made sure that everyone got to where they needed to be and are now busy helping them get emergency supplies and repairs. That's one of the advantages of living in a well run land lease community - there's always someone there to help.
If you would like to help the people of Moore that were affected by the storm, I encourage you to donate to the Salvation Army. They truly do the most good with every dollar that is donated.

Land Lease Communities are such a misunderstood and undervalued type of community. As in every form of housing there are the good and the bad, but after touring some of the yes! communities in Oklahoma and Texas there is no doubt in my mind that this will be the housing of the future.
SE Homes of Texas has recognized for years how important it is to offer the right home for community living and I've really enjoyed working with them on this. Getting to see the finished homes and the people who live in them is such a delight - it's rewarding beyond belief to this Lifestylist® to know you can help these families live in the home of their dreams. With SE Homes of TX being a part of the Clayton Homes family - the largest housing builder in the country- they have the resources to build and design homes that no other company can match.
What is a land lease community? This is where instead of having the burden of owning and taking care of the land your home sits on you lease it from the community owner who then is also responsible for keeping up the streets, common areas, paying the property taxes and making sure that the community is well maintained.  Communities can have a little or a lot of community areas, and most offer on-site management so there is someone there every day making sure the community is run properly. Many of them are in prime locations and can offer swimming pools, sports courts, walking paths, community gardens, and clubhouses. Leasing instead of owning the land your home is on it can save you thousands in property taxes and insurance which you can then invest into your home. You are responsible for your home, but the community owner pays  for everything else.
The advantage of this type of housing over apartments is that you can own your own home, plus you aren't sharing walls or hallways with your neighbors. Each home is on it's own lot giving you room to garden or enjoy outdoor living.
I have been visiting communities from coast to coast because I've become so interested in this, and the quality of living that the yes! communities provided was above and beyond the others in their areas. Every detail from how the landscaping was maintained to the signage into and around the community is taken into consideration, and even though it is still winter up here everything was spotless! Not a blowing piece of paper or unpainted fence to be found.
What really set the yes! communities apart though was the people behind the name and the residents that live in these communities. Saying (and meaning) yes is the approach this company and it's people take and the difference this makes is seen throughout. Residents and staff are happy and are excited to be there because yes! has provided a wonderful quality of live for everyone involved.
What's in a name? Everything when you are talking about a YES! community.

I am so glad Spring is almost here - it’s been rough winter weather wise and business wise, but I’m definitely seeing signs of great things on the horizon. It seems like I’m not the only one -the phone is ringing, emails are flying and in the past week I have signed two great new clients in our industry! What is really great news is that others are starting to notice our industry and talk about what we do in a positive way - especially having to do with modular. Champion Homes and Palm Harbor did a wonderful job of representing us at the International Builders Show and I’ve seen lots of positive press from that, and this week we had a huge door opener - an article in the Washington Post! The name of the story was “The Mansion Goes Modular” and not only were people able to see and read this article in the paper and online at their site, Yahoo also picked it up as a feature and highlighted it on their front page! This is exactly what we need to be sharing with our customers, local media and potential clients. Think about if you have someone who is a little worried about going modular instead of doing a site built home. Showing them this article with the credibility that editorial from the Washington Post can offer could help close a sale for you. My business (and the way I pay the bills!) is doing design work, decors, and show houses for builders, retailers and communities, but I firmly believe by doing a lot of writing and using the social media to talk about the great things my clients and the industry I love are doing we all win - it’s just the right thing to do. Here are some ways that we can all share some good news and get our industry moving forward again.

Share the Love: People and companies that write and publish love to have their stories shared, as long as you either link to their site where the story is published or ask permission to publish on your site.
The “Eyes” Have it: More and More the success of any social media including blogs, websites, etc. is judged on how many “hits” it receives or how many people are reading it. By sharing the Washington Post story with as many people as you can we’ll be showing the Post that there is a lot of interest in what they wrote about and hopefully they will write more!
Speak Up: Usually at the bottom of an article there is a comments area where you are encouraged to share what you thought about the subject. This is where the publication is able to listen to what readers thought and again judge the success of the story. If each of us wrote a positive note in the comments about the Post story not only would the Post see that they did a great job, it would also be sending the message to anyone who reads the article that modular homes are a great thing! Be sure to not use this area to specifically advertise your homes or products - this is an area for editorial not advertising. When there is an article that isn’t positive I use the comment area to try to set the record straight - after Katrina and The FEMA “trailer” articles started, this Lifestylist spent hours trying to explain that what they were seeing and mostly talking about were RV’s, not manufactured homes. I also told the story about our industry worked 24/7 trying to get safe housing to those who no longer had a home.

The great news about deciding to build a new home these days is that you have options and choices like never before.

Current technology has made it possible to build “Factory Built” housing that not only meets the quality that site built housing offers, but in many cases can exceed the quality and value that is available.

For the next few weeks I’m going to go more in-depth about the different choices, and how they compare. The building types that I’m going to review are the following:

Trailers
Mobile Homes
Manufactured Homes
Park Models
Double Wides
Modular Homes
PreFab Homes
Panelized Kit Homes
SIPS Homes (Structural Insulated Panels)

Please let me know if you have interest in other building processes and I’ll be happy to do the research and share it here.